New Orleans - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (4-3) will begin Southland play on Saturday when they take on the McNeese Cowgirls on Saturday afternoon at the University Tennis Center. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
New Orleans enters the weekend with two wins under their belt. The Privateers defeated Southern 6-1 on Wednesday in Baton Rouge. On a short turnaround, New Orleans again vaulted to a 6-1 win over Jackson State.
The Privateers have seen
Claudette Gilhespie return to the lineup on Wednesday. Gilhespie has been paired with fellow sophomore,
Yurina Asai in doubles and the tandem have won their matches in easy fashion (6-1 at Southern, 6-2 vs. Jackson State).
"We're playing a very strong McNeese team," said Coach
Burzis Kanga. "Last year we competed very well with them. We need to take advantage of our home court and everyone will have to play a solid match. They're undefeated in doubles so I think this is an opportunity for us to make a statement at home."
The Privateers are 1-3 against McNeese in the regular season since New Orleans joined the Southland. In postseason, the Privateers and Cowgirls have split a pair of meetings in the Southland Tournament. New Orleans eliminated McNeese in the opening round in 2017. McNeese knocked the Privateers out of the tournament in 2016.
McNeese did not have to leave home throughout most of February. The Cowgirls (4-1) played their first four matches of the spring season at home. McNeese notched wins over Louisiana Tech, Prairie View, UTSA, and Louisiana. Their first road match turned into a 4-1 loss against Louisiana-Monroe on Monday.
The Cowgirls' roster has two seniors and two juniors and several conference accolades. Giovanna Fioretti was Southland Freshman of the Year two seasons ago. Senior, Hannah Brett is a two-time first team all-conference selection. Sarah Jurakova earned all-conference recognition in singles as a sophomore. Charoline Erlandsson and Phonexay Chitdara are currently both 4-0 in singles this spring.
For full coverage of Privateers tennis, please follow
@PrivateersTN on Twitter and
@UNOPrivateers on Instagram, like
/NewOrleansTennis on Facebook and subscribe to the
/PrivateerAthletics channel on YouTube.
